Dreaming Of A Raggedy Doctor
by Prone To Obsession
Summary: Amelia Pond wakes up and realizes that five minutes has come and gone, and her raggedy doctor still hasn't come back.


**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own the characters or the show. Sadly.**

**Author's Note: I wrote this a while ago; I don't remember if I was going somewhere with this or not...I think it works as a one-shot, but I may be tempted to continue with little vignettes of Amelia and Rory growing up, just 'cos I think little Rory would have been adorable. :) Let me know what you think! Oh, and just to be clear (since things did get rather timey-wimey there with The Big Bang), this is set in the "real" universe, _not_ the one where the Doctor doesn't actually exist. :)**

Seven-year-old Amelia Pond woke up still half-dreaming of a box. "The Bluest Blue Ever," she thought to herself as the light streamed in through her window. Aunt Sharon was downstairs; Amelia could hear her rummaging through the cupboards, probably looking for paper to write Amelia a note before she left for town. That was how their relationship worked—notes and promises and take-away dinners.

She sat up in bed, suddenly remembering the events of the previous night. A blue box fell from the sky, crushed the shed. A man came out of the box—a raggedy doctor, even though the box said 'Police'. She looked at her wall, where the crack had always been. It was gone. The raggedy doctor had fixed it. She ran to the window; the shed was just a pile of wood, now. It was real; all that was real. She smiled, but only for a moment. If it was real, then where was the Doctor? He promised he'd be back; he said five minutes. Why wasn't he back?

Amelia heard the front door slam shut and knew she was alone again. Dejected, she slowly went downstairs to find some breakfast.

She had found some chocolate cake in the fridge and had just cut herself a large slice with an even larger glass of milk, when she heard a knock at the door. _Knock...knock-knock-knock...knock._ That was Rory's knock. He always came round the back door, which was always unlocked, and yet he always knocked anyway. It drove Amelia bonkers. "Come in!" she shouted between mouthfuls of cake. He bounced into the kitchen a few moments later, his brown mop of hair completely mussed from the wind outside.

"What kind of a breakfast is that?" he asked, his voice scolding.

"The best kind," she retorted. "What're you doing here?" She asked as if Rory didn't come around almost every Saturday. Sometimes he brought Geoff, but usually Geoff, two years older and infinitely more complex, had better things to do.

"Dunno. Thought you'd have a plan." She usually did.

Amelia thought for a moment, lips pursed as if trying to decide something, then she nodded her head, cramming the last bite of cake in her mouth before leading Rory by the hand out to the backyard to show him the broken shed.

"Yeah, I saw that when I came in. What happened?"

Amelia answered Rory's question with one of her own. "What do you know about time machines?"

"I...know they don't look like that?"

Amelia rolled her eyes and punched Rory on the shoulder. "Don't be stupid. I know it's not a time machine. That's where the time machine landed."

"O...kay."

"Do you believe me?"

Rory thought about it for a moment. He didn't believe her, of course. But he wasn't sure he wanted to tell her that. Amelia punched hard, for a girl. "How do you know it was a time machine?" he said instead.

She sighed. "I guess I don't. He said five minutes. But...he hasn't come back yet. Everyone always leaves me."

Rory frowned. Amelia had been his best friend since they were five. They met on a playground in Leadworth just after she had come to live with her Aunt Sharon. She had knocked him off the slide, and then kissed him on the cheek to make up for it (though, he didn't like to admit that part to his other friends). He didn't like to see his best friend upset. "I won't leave you," he promised. "Not ever." She smiled at him, and sat in the grass in front of the shed. She patted the ground and he joined her. "Alright," he said, "Tell me everything, from the beginning."


End file.
